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LOOKING BACK AT 2010: THE SUMMER OF INDIES

JULY 25, 2010: CHIKARA'S CHIKARASAURUS REX IN PHILADELPHIA, PA

CHIKARA held their biggest event of the summer, Chikarasaurus Rex at the ECW Arena this afternoon. Drawing in the area of 600 fans, the show so far was a great mix of names, fun wrestling and CHIKARA's patented meshing of wrestling styles and fun characters. 

CHIKARA may end up being the best kept secret in pro wrestling in 2010 and that is extremely screwed up.  There was great wrestling, there were vivid and fun characters, there was a buffet of styles and there was an emotionally connected audience having the time of their lives.  Anyone choosing to pass up an opportunity to sample the product is really doing themselves a grave disservice.

Before the show, they showed an awesome video, hyping the show, focusing specifically on the two of the trios matches, the women's tag, and Kingston/Dreamer/Ares/Claudio matches.

*Lince Dorado & Tursas & Pinky Sanchez & Tim Donst defeated the Colony and Frightmare. The Colony are a trio of masked Ants. Seriously. Fun opener with lots of comedy spots, multiman Lucha spots and some good wrestling, too. Frightmare at one point jumped on Donst's shoulders, landed, then hit a rana. Tursas was a giant masked Viking who did all these monster power spots against the smaller Ants. The Ants finally did a spot where they flipped Fire Ant over the top into a dive on Tursas. Two Ants hit stereo dives to the floor. Sanchez finally caught Frightmare with a sick Death Valley Driver for the win. Really fun opener with everyone playing their roles to perfection.

After the match, Vokoder appeared in the aisle, but only Pinkie saw him. Pinkie freaked out and Tim Donst didn't believe him since he was Vokoder.

*Shingo pinned Jimmy Olsen. Shingo nailed a Death Valley Driver and then a clothesline to the floor. Olsen came back with several chops but was shoulderblocked down. Shingo used his power to keep Olsen at bay and then nailed a back senton for a two count. Olsen began mounting a comeback but was taken down with a Mongolian Chop. Undaunted, he snapped Shingo's throat across the ropes and nailed a top rope missile dropkick. Shingo went to the floor and Olsen nailed a dive. He caught Shingo with an enziguiri and a brainbuster for a two count. Shingo went for Made in Japan but Olsen landed on his feet and scored with several kicks for a two count. Shingo powered up and slammed Olsen into the buckles. He clobbered him with a running lariat in the corner than another for a two count. Shingo went after Olsen's mask but the referee stopped him. Shingo nailed Made in Japan but Olsen kicked out. Shingo finally drilled him with a lariat for the win. They did a nice job of building Olsen as a babyface who could hang with all the kickouts. Good stuff.

*Eddie Kingston came to the ring to induct Tommy Dreamer into the ECW Arena Hall of Fame. Kingston said that Dreamer helped make the building what it is today and helped put wrestling on the map here. Dreamer said he kind of wanted to do a sort of Terry Funk thing and come back at the end to accept these type of awards but when he was told it was going to be for the Arena and for CHIKARA, a company that has men and women that remind him of the original ECW roster. Dreamer joked about how he and Taz would drive from New York in two hours and then drive around for another hour because they couldn't find the building. He pointed out the many changes in the Arena but that one thing stayed the same, the magic between the wrestlers and the fans. He said that he was born in Yonkers, New York but when he is no longer on this Earth, the banner will tell everyone that Tommy Dreamer was born right here in the ECW Arena. A nice moment. Kingston inducting Dreamer made a lot of sense.

*Daizee Haze and Sara Del Rey defeated Amazing Kong and Raisha Saed. This was the first time Melissa Anderson has done the Saed persona since leaving TNA. Haze and Saed started. Haze tried to talk her way out but Saed attacked. Saed drilled her with a series of elbowdrops. Kong and del Rey tagged in and faced off. The place erupted for that and clapped. Del Rey failed with a series of shoulderblocks so she nailed a kick to the head. Kong wasn't fazed and smashed her down. Kong picked up and slammed Saed onto Del Rey. Saed then locked in a leg submission. Haze bodypressed Kong but was caught. Kong nailed her with the giant swing. Kong tried to slam Saed on Haze, but Haze got her knees up. Del Rey kicked Kong through the ropes. She and Haze worked over Saed. Del Rey began working on Saed's back and shoulder as she and Haze tagged in and out. Saed finally mounted a comeback against Haze but Del Rey attacked. Saed escaped, leaving Kong to Avalanche a shocked Del Rey in the corner. Kong chokeslammed Rey for a two count, then nailed an Implant Buster. Haze jumped on her back with a sleeper but was flipped over. Kong held Haze for a spinning backfist but Haze moved and Kong was struck. Del Rey kicked Kong into a Haze back suplex with a bridge and Haze scored the pin. This was one of the best women's bouts I've seen in a long time.

*CIMA & Super Shen Long & Maasaki Mochizuki defeated Gran Akuma & Icarus & Chuck Taylor. Icarus and Mochizuki started out with Icarus stalling so Mochizuki kicked him so hard his body quivered. He then kicked Icarus off the apron, where he jumped into the front row. Taylor and Long faced off and had a nice back and forth exchange, trading armdrags. CIMA and Akuma was next. CIMA caught him with a nice rolling senton into the ring. CIMA and Long nailed a double dropkick. Team Dragon Gate took turns lighting up Akuma with kicks to the chest. Icarus took control working on Kong with a double arm submission. Akuma locked in a single leg Boston Crab. Taylor and Icarus nailed a double back suplex. They continued beating Long, but CIMA kept breaking up the pinfall attempts. Akuma began breaking Long down with kicks. Mochizuki tagged in and nailed Akuma with a missile dropkick. He began unloading kicks on Icarus and Taylor. Team Dragon Gate kept the control. Long slammed Akuma and nailed a splash off the top. He went for spinning headscissors but was caught with the inverted lungblower. Mochizuki prevented Taylor from scoring the pin. He and Taylor battled back and forth until Mochizuki kicked him in the head. Icarus Pedigreed Mochizuki for a two count. It turned into all sort of crazy moves and sequences too fast to follow. CIMA nailed an Emerald Frosion and a double knee drop off the top on Akuma for the pin in 15:17. Lots of fun!

Johnny Gargano came to the ring and started questioning Taylor about the team's loss. Icarus began helping Akuma but then turned on him, landing an Pedigree. Taylor and Akuma ripped off Akuma's team armbands and handed them to Gargano. They beat Akuma down, so apparently he's going babyface.   Foreshadowing the turn, Team FIST (which stands for Friends in Similar Tights) were not wearing matching tights. And only Taylor was wearing the FIST tights. They've been teasing dissension in blogs on the Chikara website, so it will be interesting seeing what happens with Gargano taking Akuma's place.

After intermission, Manami Toyota was announced coming to CHIKARA in September, which I imagine will continue Haze and Del Rey's quest for competition.

*Drake Younger & defeated Colin Delaney & Vin Gerard & STIGMA vs. The Osyrian Portal & Drake Younger. Younger was dressed like the Portal. All six brawled at the bell. There was lots of fighting around ringside and dives. Fun stuff. It was a fun brawl with the crowd into every bit of it. Gerard got dumped head first into a trashcan, which was then dropkicked. Younger was bleeding at one point.  SIGMA tombstoned one of the Portal on the ringsteps. The Portal came back with a combination top rope splash and legdrop. Younger got a huge pop dancing with the Portal after the match. Fun brawl and great moment with Younger.

*Ares & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Eddie Kingston & Tommy Dreamer. This was Dreamer's second wrestling match in the venue since the original ECW closed, with the other being a losing effort against Big Show for the WWE version of ECW.  BDK's own referee Derek Sabato officiated the match with Dreamer and Kingston vs. BDK. Delirious, who has recently become Ares' new "pet," was ringside. He was spooky, wearing his hood with a lethargic and spaced out mannerism.  Everyone brawled briefly before the bell. When it calmed down Ares attacked Kingston in the ring and the referee called for the bell. Ares kicked off a Kingston charge but was caught with a suplex for a two count. Castagnoli called for Dreamer to tag in so he did. Fans chanted for ECW. Dreamer got the better of Castagnoli earlier but was kicked in the gut when he went for a tag. Ares suplexed him for a two count. Dreamer came back with a Fall Away Slam. Dreamer and Kingston locked Claudio in a Boston Crab and a Crossface at the same time. Dreamer suplexed Ares, then suplexed Kingston onto him. Kingston scored a two count, then began beating him with crossfaces. Ares came back with a superplex on Dreamer, who went to the floor. Claudio crotched him on the guard rail. He went to pin Dreamer but Kingston broke it up. He and Claudio went at it while Ares choked Dreamer on the outside. Ares kicked away at Dreamer and locked in an armbar. Dreamer fought back but couldn't escape their grip. Dreamer finally nailed a back suplex on Castagnoli but Ares attacked him before he could make the hot tag. Dreamer finally fought them off with several backhands and clotheslines. Dreamer made the hot tag. Kingston cleaned house on Ares and Castagnoli. He hit a running splash in the corner then did the Kobashi chops. Kingston tied Ares to the tree of woe and did Dreamer's sliding kick. Castagnoli attacked him but Kingston hit a tope. Dreamer did a flip off the apron onto Ares on the floor. Back in the ring, Kingston was whiped into Ares. He then sent Ares into a Dreamer spinebuster but the referee, imagine that, counted slooooow. The ref then helped Castagnoli, counting fast. Dreamer DDTd Castagnoli and the ref counted sloooow. Dreamer grabbed the ref for a Spicoli Buster but Ares clipped him. Castagnoli small packaged him for a two count. He hit the Nicola Bomb on Dreamer and scored the pin. Castagnoli and Ares mocked Dreamer as they left. The crowd chanted for Dreamer as he made his way to his feet. Dreamer instead directed them to chant for Kingston.

*CHIKARA's Mike Quackenbush & Hallowicked & Jigsaw defeated DGUSA's Naruki Doi & BxB Hulk & Masato Yoshino. Hulk and Hallowicked started out with some great back and forth counters and submission holds. Quack tagged in and dropkicked Hulk while he was in a chinlock. Hulk and Quack went back and forth with Lucha spots and reversals. Yoshino tagged in. Quack slammed him and nailed a forearm. He held Yoshino for a Jigsaw dropkick. Yoshino snapped off a great headscissors into a rana. Doi tagged in and worked over Hallowicked. Hulk cinched in a rear chinlock and brought Hallowicked over to their corner. The DGUSA team continued to triple team. Hallowicked made the tag to Jigsaw but he was soon overwhelmed by the Japanese team. Yoshino kept beating down Jigsaw and dragged him back to their corner. Jigsaw finally dropkicked Hulk to the floor but when he went for a tag, DGUSA wiped out his partners. Jigsaw finally dove out to the floor on Doi. Hallowicked and Yoshino battled back and forth and Yoshino trapped him in an Octopus. Quack nailed a top rope rana on Doi. He missed a rolling senton but landed on his feet. He was caught by Doi with an elevated spinebuster. Yoshino and Doi worked over Jigsaw, who made a comeback on Hulk. Hulk drilled him with kicks and a senton for a two count. They triple teamed Jigsaw in the corner. Yoshino hit a monster back senton for a two count. Hulk decimated Jigsaw with a kick to the head for another two count. Yoshino went after Jigsaw but Quack and Hallowicked were on the scene for the save. They worked over Yoshino and set up a Jigsaw Torture Race Driver. It broke down into everyone working on Quack. Doi nailing a running dropkick off a rebound for a two but CHIKARA broke it up. This ser up a great dive sequence. Doi slapped the hell out of Quack but got caught in a tombstone and pinned. GREAT Match!

After the match, fans chanted for both companies as all six embraced and shook hands.

Notes: Alison Danger and Mike Kehner were visiting backstage....The Rocky Run had about 15-20 fans run the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art with The Colony, The Osirian Portal, Drake Younger, Gavin Loudspeaker, and Bryce Remsburg. Leonard F. Chikarason was there as well....A variety of Ultramantis Black, Bryce Remsburg, Gavin Loudspeaker, Leonard Chikarason, and Mike Quackenbush did rotating commentary. Ultramantis had two masked-and-cloaked men behind him whenever he was there.  The show will go on sale Monday AM at www.SmartMarkVideo.com....

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